Then Came You
by flowerdrop
Summary: And when she smiled he felt the gravity shift and every springtime he'd ever known had come to bloom in his heart.
1. Prologue

_**A/N-**** Well this is my very first fanfiction. Hope you guys like it. Please spare me if the edges are too rough. Didn't get time to proof read so forgive the typos, if any :D**_

Title: Then Came you

Summary: And when she smiled he felt the gravity shift and every springtime he'd ever known had come to bloom in his heart.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Warnings: Swearing. Sexual content.

_**Then Came You-Prologue  
**_

Ichigo closed his eyes trying to sleep.

"GODDAMMIT!", he swore under his breath as he tossed and turned until his blankets were in a messy knot. He opened his eyes, annoyed to find them wide and alert. Punching his pillow into a comfortable position, Ichigo tried to sleep again to no avail. What would he not give to fall into the embrace of the sweet and elusive sleep which would dull his senses. He lay there on the bed willing his mind to shut down but it didn't happen and he knew the reason why and knew it well.

Today was "the day". It was now officially five years. Five fucking years since he saw her, heard her sing song voice and chiming laughter. Five years have passed without him hearing about any strange and possibly hazardous food ideas or that abnormally cheerful "Ohayo Kurosaki-kun!" greeting.

Five years since Inoue Orihime went missing without a trace.

Ichigo liked to think that he remembered everything about her; she was after all his precious nakama. But soon he found out that shards of memories of the times he'd spent with her kept fogging up one by one. They were not completely gone but were rather out of focus and just out of reach. Her smiles, those gentle brown eyes, the surprising caramel hair...he remembered them as if from an old movie...there, but not quite, in his reach.

Everyone was shocked by her sudden disappearance. They had all waited in vain, searched in vain, hoped in vain...for Inoue Orihime. The amazing and lovely healer, however, never came back.

Slowly things had gone back to normal, or to some semblance of it, for even without her, life had gone on. There was a void in all their hearts which, with gentle passage of time, had been filled with mundane routines of daily life...after school there was college and then they went to different jobs. They were all busy now. Some stayed in the same small town, where they had so many adventures together, some moved away to other cities and some went back to another dimension, but they all took time to meet up at least once a month.

In the beginning, when the pain of loosing their friend was still fresh and raw, during such occasional gatherings, they could all feel a void, a sense of loss. It was evident sometimes when suddenly a laughing group of friends would become subdued for no reason and during these pregnant pauses there was no one to smile and blush and get everyone to start talking again by asking a weird advice on an equally weird song composition or giving a space-aliens-are-awesome talk. No one realized it or none of them delved deep into their hearts, at least not him, but they all knew life must have been a little more brighter, a little more happier and a little more warmer had there been another person present amidst them.

It took a great deal of time for them to recover, especially Tatsuki, who had all but faded after her best friend had gone away. She had dropped her karate practice and her job as an instructor at the dojo to go looking for her elusive friend but never found her.

Ichigo had searched for her too...for over two years. It felt unnatural to him not having her there. He knew that once again she was taken from them...from him. Once again he failed to protect her. He couldn't help but wonder if it was his fault that Inoue went away. He had spent countless hours thinking about why she did what she did but could never come up with a plausible explanation. Sometimes he could feel Tatsuki wanting to say something, her eyes hard and narrowed but she never did and he never pressed her.  
Nothing changed one simple truth...one fact of the matter. _Inoue was gone_.

This time there was only one difference. Wherever Inoue Orihime had gone...she _**chose**_ to leave...she wanted to go there and that gave him some peace of mind. Maybe she was happy. Maybe it was what she wanted.

He still had her "_goodbye_" note which Tatsuki gave him saying that it was probably meant for him more than it was meant for any of them anyway. Still shocked at Inoue's departure Ichigo pocketed it without really knowing what he was doing or what she was saying.

Even now, after five years, the letter was still with him. The ink, once glistening, was now faded and the paper, once crisp and white, was now slightly worn out and dull after being read and re-read so many times by him.

_Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before we can meet again and meeting again, after moments or a lifetime, is certain for those who are bonded as we are...I have given each of you a piece of my heart and have kept you all safely tucked in my chest.  
We will meet again...if not in this lifetime then in next and if not in that one then in the next one. It's a promise!_

_I had wonderful time with you all...and I'm so thankful that I got to know you all. Even though I'm leaving I'll always think of you.  
I'm sorry.  
I love you so much._

_Goodbye. _

Ichigo knew this letter by heart. He could make out the places where the ink had splotched due to her tears and the handwriting, though neat, bore the signs of slight shaking of her fingers.

He could never forget how he felt the first time he read it. He read the letter three times before it dawned on him what Inoue had actually done. He was filled with rage and confusion and worry and a sense of betrayal. _Why did she leave?_ Back then he was so sure he would find her...find her and bring her back after talking some sense into her. He knew he would find her. He'd have that creepy Geta-Boshi trace her reiatsu to the ends of all the three worlds. But nothing helped. Even Urahara couldn't locate her. She had all but disappeared from the face of the earth as well as Soul Society and Heuco Mundo. It was unbelievable...it was maddening and heart breaking not just for him but for everyone. The girl who could make anyone smile, who could light up a room just by entering it was truly gone.

And he can't do a fucking thing about it. Ichigo knew he couldn't give up just like that but eventually he did...he had no choice but to accept that Inoue was indeed really gone for good.

Ichigo closed his eyes once again as he lay on his bed, trying to get the sleep that was eluding him for some reason, and tried to remember her face. He found it hard and could only bring up misty image of long hair, a bright smile and a pair of flower shaped hairpins.

Strangely that night he dreamt of a very beautiful girl with long and luscious caramel hair swaying at her waist, sparkling honey eyes filled with impossible dreams, a smile brighter than a hundred suns and lovely pink lips that spouted sweet nothings into his ears. And for the first time, after a very long time, Kurosaki Ichigo slept soundly...even if the reality he was going to wake up to was void of everything he'd dreamt of.

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_**A/N- So what did you guys think? This was basically a plot development chapter. Like it? Don't like it? Have anything to say? Please take time to review. It would mean a lot. Constructive criticism is always welcome, I know I still have a lot to learn. **_


	2. Dreaming Of You

**A/N- Hello! First of all thank you all who took time to read my story. I was soooo happy by the reviews I received!  
:D  
Now here I am with another new chapter. I have taken the present arc into consideration and this story basically takes place after the thousand year blood war. But those who don't know about it need not worry at all. Sorry if there are any typos or grammar mistakes. Didn't have time to proof read it.  
**

**Disclaimer:Bleach belongs to KT**

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** DREAMING OF YOU**

_She was walking in front of him, clad in white, barefoot in a forest. The rays of the setting sun reflecting off her copper curls as they swayed around her waist. The beauty of his surrounding was overshadowed by the beauty of the girl. Somewhere nearby there was a flowing stream, its gentle gushing and trickling mixed with her quiet humming was music to his ears, serenading him with both calm and longing. __It was strangely liberating and hauntingly beautiful. This was it...the voice he'd been waiting to hear for years. Suddenly, she halted next to a very large sakura tree. It was in full bloom...laden with pink and white flowers,lovely and full of life, so much like her. A gentle wind blew through the pink petals and also through her russet tresses as she turned around, her eyes dancing with an untold mystery, and gave him a heart throbbing smile, both stunning and so very sad. He reached out for her but his fingers closed around nothing but air...and then he felt it, a slight brush against his fingers and even in his dream, the air seemed to reach back._

Ichigo opened his eyes slowly. He had _dreamt_ of Inoue but it had felt so very real. He looked down at his hand, eyes wide. He could still feel his fingers tingling. His alarm clock started ringing at that moment. Scowling at his hand one last time, he got up from his bed and looked out of the window. It was a beautiful day in Karakura, spring had arrived.

Spirits lifting, Ichigo headed for the shower, not wanting to be late today of all days. He had studied medicine and was a doctor now, like his father, in a reputed hospital in Tokyo. He lived alone in a comfortable apartment. But he was visiting Karakura this weekend and they had all planned to meet today for a picnic near Karasu River. The whole gang would be there. Chad, Tatsuki and Ishida had stayed in Karakura town, Keigo had moved to Shinjuku city which wasn't too far while Ichigo and Mizuiro had moved to Tokyo. Renji and Rukia would be coming from Soul Society.

Ichigo went downstairs where the smell of delicious breakfast greeted him.

"Ohayo Onii-chan!" Yuzu greeted him while Karin just grunted, her mouth already full of food. Both of them were dressed in uniforms. The twins were high school seniors now. Seeing them reminded Ichigo of Inoue and Tatsuki. He tried to conjure up an image of Tatsuki beating up a random creep while Orihime tried to stop her but for some reason; her face was blurred in his memory as if hidden in a shroud of mist.

_What was that? Why couldn't he picture Inoue? _Thinking it was probably due to his sleep clogged brain function in the morning Ichigo let the incident slip.

"Where is Oya-ji?" Ichigo asked Yuzu, noting how quiet and normal the morning had been.  
"Oh he went to a conference in Hokkaido. He'll be back in a few days." She answered setting out a plate for him.

_So the old goat was out. No wonder it was so peaceful. _Ichigo thought wryly.

"Ne Ichi-nii, I want your room. You hardly ever stay here so it's so unfair that you don't allow anyone else to move in either, even though it's empty." Karin complained with a frown, chopsticks sticking out of her mouth.  
Ichigo looked at his sister. Her tomboyish attitude had not changed in the slightest. And she had been complaining non-stop about how girly Yuzu was and how even the "daughters" of the Kurosaki family should have their own space and what not.

"Even if I let you have my room you both will just end up staying together. So what's the point?" Ichigo said offhandedly knowing it was impossible to separate the twins. Both of them had the polar opposite personalities, looks as well as interests but were inseparable since birth.

"No fair Ichi-nii!" Karin said mutinously.

"Tch. Why you both are dressed for school anyways? Isn't it the weekend?" Ichigo asked starting to eat his breakfast, his usual frown firmly in place.

"We have extra classes for university entrance exams." Yuzu said brightly, settling down on the table with her own plate.  
"It's such a pain." Karin commented flatly.

Karin seemed to be in a bad mood that morning, Ichigo noted. He knew even if he asked her whether everything was all right, she won't tell him anything. He was first to admit that he was not the brightest kid on the block when it came to understanding how girls felt so he kept his business to himself.

"Fine...you can have my room." Ichigo said looking at Karin again who was furiously poking a potato with her chop sticks to vent her feelings.  
"R-really?" she asked looking up, her eyes wide while Yuzu choked on her fried eggs.  
"Yeah...don't ask me again or I might change my mind", He commented dryly brushing a hand through his spiky orange hair willing it to flatten itself, which of course didn't happen.

"There is probably some old stuff of mine in there. Most of it is junk but if you find something you think might be useful just keep it aside and I'll take a look after I come back." Ichigo said standing up after finishing his breakfast.

"Oh I already threw your stuff out last year when I was cleaning your room and yes most of it was useless. But there was a photo album full of pictures, a lot of highly colorful and illustrative bunny drawings, a few old manga, some music CDs" Yuzu was counting on her fingers. "Oh, and there was a lovely journal which I didn't look into. Probably your diary, ne Onii-chan?" She finished with devilish glint in her eyes.

Ichigo who was just walking out of the door stopped dead in his tracks. His attention, which was fixed on his cell phone as he texted Mizuiro, was completely diverted.

"A journal?" he repeated slowly, frown deepening as the nape of his neck prickled.  
"Hai!"

Ichigo raced his memory and for the life of him couldn't remember ever keeping a diary in high school.

"I have kept all of them in a bag in your closet so if you want I-"

Ichigo turned around swiftly and almost ran upstairs. He knew it was no big deal, its probably just some stupid old notebook, but he couldn't stop his legs and their brisk pace for some reason.

He reached his room and opened his wardrobe, it seemed impossibly small to him and he wondered how the dark haired imp had stayed there for so long. His eyes traveled from the bottom shelf to the topmost one and sure enough in the right corner of the top shelf sat an inconspicuous grey bag.  
He pulled it out slowly expecting there to be a layer of dust on top of it. But it was clean. As expected from his sister, concluded Ichigo, a crooked half smile lifting his lips.

Keeping the bag on his old study table Ichigo slid the chain open deftly and looked inside. Everything inside was neatly arranged. Sure enough, it had a lot a battered old manga, a few music CDs, an old earphone, Rukia's hideous drawings were stacked on one side and then there was that picture album. Ichigo flipped through it once. It contained many pictures of his high school days mostly with Mizuiro, Keigo and Chad. Tatsuki and Ishida,looking prissy as ever, appeared in a few of them too. His eyes kept searching for someone else though. It looked like he didn't have any pictures of Inoue which was a slightly disheartening thought as he was already forgetting her face and after everything they had gone through together, invading three worlds together, he didn't have a single freaking picture of the person who saved his life more times than he could count. Suddenly Ichigo felt like an ass. He never necessarily ignored her but maybe he should've paid her more attention and been a little more grateful...she damn well deserved it, more from him than anyone else.

_Not a single fucking picture_ Ichigo concluded, double checking. Maybe she'd left because she got tired of him as he had always been an unfeeling git towards her, having the emotional perception of, well frankly, a Gillian.

But he let the thought drift as his eyes found something else. It was, sure enough, a diary clad in soft, worn out leather of light brown hue. The pages weren't crisp but bore the signs of gentle aging from being unused for a long time.

Breath caught in his throat, Ichigo flipped to the first page and he almost felt his heart stop.  
There taped to the first page was a large photograph. There were 9 people pressed close together, all smiling for the camera, Renji, Rukia, Ishida, Chad, Mizuiro, Keigo Ichigo and...Inoue.  
She looked astounding and he remembered the moment as if it was yesterday and not 5 years ago on the New Year's Day when they had gone for the shrine visit. They were all dressed in Kimonos. Ichigo didn't have this picture but he clearly remembered posing for it while Ururu had been the one with the camera.

And three months after that, when the first of the sakura started blossoming and spring was at their doorstep, Inoue had gone without a trace. Spring that year had lost all meaning for them.

He felt a pang of sadness as he looked at her smiling face. Even in the picture she glowed, so much like the sun. It had been a great day. The last one they had all spent together before they got busy with entrance exams and stuff.

He looked at her closely taking a note of all her features. Her face was flushed with laughter, lips stretched in a wide smile and her eyes glazed as if...as if. Ichigo looked at the photograph again, bringing it close to his face, his nose almost touching it.

_Is it just my mind playing tricks on me or does it look like her eyes are full of tears? _He winced at the thought.

Had she already decided by then that she was leaving, Ichigo wondered. Did she know how much her going away would affect everyone...would affect him? Inoue was irreplaceable to all of them but for Ichigo she was something more than that. In all of his fights against powerful enemies, being so close to death on so many occasions and shouldering the weight of so much hate...it was her presence that reminded him that the world is still bright...that there is still hope. Her encouraging smiles kept helped him fight, her complete faith in him helped him win and after the battles when she put his battered body together, he knew he was home. None of his other friends made him feel the way she did. Even amongst his nakama...she was different, she was special.

He closed his eyes, reveling in his memory of her...and all the things he found hard to remember the past few days came flooding back, drowning him in their comforting familiarity. He could remember every last detail of the times they had spent together...those moments dancing in his mind, the air alight with memories he'd made with her and heavy with pain of loss. Ichigo, for the life of him, couldn't fathom how he could have forgotten anything about her ever. Even after these five years she felt so real. Not a day had passed when he didn't think about her.

But today was different. True, granted Inoue was his precious nakama and would always remain so no matter how many years passed, but he usually didn't think about her with so much intensity, at least he hadn't in the recent months. There was something about that morning which made him ache with longing to see her one more time.

Ichigo looked at the adjacent page and recognized Inoue's familiar handwriting, written in a simple blue ink.

_Inoue Orihime._

Insides tingling, he reached to flip the page but at that moment he heard a knock at his bedroom door. It was Karin.

"Ichi-nii, Tatsuki-chan is here to see you and she looks a little, uh, disturbed...we're leaving for school." She announced poking her head inside his room.

_Tatsuki? What was she doing there, disturbed none the less? Maybe she'd come to haul his ass to the river bank seeing as how he was late for their meet up. Tch even after all these years, she was as annoying as ever._ Ichigo thought ruefully, having completely forgotten about their meeting.

At that moment Tatsuki bounded into his room. She had a wild look about her.

"Tatsu-"

"Ichigo...do you remember Orihime?" She asked him abruptly,she was panting heavily and Ichigo noticed her clenched fists were shaking.

"Remember Inoue? What do you mean?" Of course he remembered her, how could he not.

Her eyes fell on the diary which was still in his hands and she hastily took a shaky step towards him, recognizing it immediately.

"Where did you get that?" she asked him pointing at the diary, sounding a bit unnerved as her eyes glistened with tears of frustration.

"I found it in my room...it's Inoue's." He replied, his words sounding strange to his own ears._ Why was it there in his room?_

_Of course it was hers_. Tatsuki thought as a blurred image of the pretty girl bending over and writing something in that same book materialized in her thoughts.

...

_"What are you doing Orihime?" Tatsuki had found her friend sitting in a far corner of the library one day during lunch, an English dictionary open next to her._

_"Eh?...Hahaha.. I'm just writing" she had replied blushing._

_"Is that a diary?"_

_"Eto...not quite." she had said, flushed with embarrassment.  
_

_"Let me read it!" Tatsuki had teased her._

_"No! I-I mean..."_

_"Tch. You have probably written about your plans to become a cyborg in the future...and a secret love letter to that dense carrot top" Tatsuki had said suggestively making the red-head blush profusely._

_"It's more than that." a quiet reply had come from her.  
_

...

Tears spilled down her cheeks as that memory too faded into darkness. Tatsuki took a deep breadth trying to calm herself,_ she never cried dammit!_ It was beyond cruel that her best friend had left but it was completely heart breaking to have her memories disappear too. With the way things were going, she knew that, any moment now, she would completely forget about her best friend. It was all happening so fast that it made her head spin. She bent double trying not to puke. Ichigo immediately tried to help her sit down but she jerked his hand away. Her precious memories were slowly disappearing, the tighter she held on, the faster they faded...it was like trying to hold water in her bare hands.

Tatsuki knew...there was no time. She moved forward and grabbed his collar looking straight into his eyes.

"Ichigo...my memories of the times I spent with Orihime are fading, everyone has already forgotten about her. Soon I...I will forget her too...find her and bring her back. I know you can..you must. There is something terribly wrong going on here" Tatsuki said trying to stop her body from shaking.

Tatsuki knew...no matter how much Orihime had loved her and everyone else, it was the man standing in front of her who had meant the world to Orihime, it had always been him. _He was not just someone she loved...he was her state of mind._

Tatsuki felt helpless tears prickling her eyes again as the last shard of memory faded from existence in her mind, taking away all the cherished time she had spent with Orihime. She couldn't help but crumble in a heap on the floor. She could hear Ichigo saying something as he shook her shoulders.

**_If the place I'm going is somewhere Tatsuki-chan can't go, then please wait for me here, I will come back for sure. Come back to Tatsuki-chan's side. _**A sweet voice echoed in her mind, reverberating inside her soul and then it was gone, so warm in its familiarity and so painful in its parting, as it made her remember a bygone time when she was with her...when they were together. Complete.

"Promise me Ichigo...Promise me..." she choked out.

"I promise." he had whispered.

_That's right...**you** hold her heart._

And then Tatsuki forgot all about blushing smiles, soulful eyes, lovely laughter, strange food tastes, impossible dreams and long copper tresses symbolizing an unbreakable bond...the one who loved her, the one she loved.

She closed her eyes and Ichigo watched her loose the one solace she'd been holding on to...her memories.

The diary was lying on the floor beside him, it was flipped open to the first entry.

**1. Zeitgeist  
**  
_Noun._  
_the spirit of the time; general trend of thought or feeling characteristic of a particular period of time. _

**_If someone had given me a choice between living my life and living the one Zeitgeist when I first fell in love, I would have gladly preferred the latter by far. Anytime. Such is the madness of only true magic of life. I shall keep it as my guiding star forever._**

**_-13th January,2011_**

As Ichigo easily read those words written in a foreign language and jotted in a lovely stroke, his insides gave a lurch as their meaning registered. And at that moment he felt somehow everything was going to change for him.

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**A/N-So what did you guys think? Is the story a bit slow? The plot here is as important as romance. I hope Ichigo was not too OOC but the thing is five years have passed, so I decided to take subtle changes into account. I would love to hear your thoughts on this and can anyone guess what is happening to our lovely Orihime?**  
**Please read and please, please,please,please review and as always constructive criticism is welcome.**  
**:D**  
**Flowerdrop**


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